College Armageddon 2.0? What Texas, Oklahoma bolting to SEC would mean for NCAA sports landscape

HOOVER, Ala. — Conference realignment talk is back in a huge way.

So is all the drama, the speculation and intrigue, with the focus on Texas and Oklahoma.

The Houston Chronicle first reported Wednesday that Texas and Oklahoma have reached out to the Southeastern Conference about joining the football powerhouse.

Multiple industry sources confirmed what was described as mutual interest between Texas, Oklahoma and the SEC, with Texas making first contact. UT board of regents chairman Kevin Eltife, a former state senator from Tyler, is believed to be a key player in the process as he was in the hiring of football coach Steve Sarkisian.

Rumors have been circulating among college football power brokers for a few weeks.

Welcome to College Armageddon 2.0. Remember the proposal for the Pac-16 a decade or so ago? This would be bigger in impact.

By SEC bylaws, the addition would require 11 votes from the current 14 members.

If that occurs, the acquisition of Texas and OU would result in a 16-team super-conference. It would also gut the Big 12, taking the conference’s two flagship members and leaving just eight schools trying to hold things together.

College sports, which is dealing with name/image/likeness legislation, lingering COVID-19 issues and a possible 12-team football playoff, would be changed immeasurably with two huge dominos falling.

The SEC would become even more of a revenue and football powerhouse. In a 12-team playoff era, it’s not hard to imagine an expanded SEC placing four teams in the field.

Oklahoma has won the last six Big 12 titles and is expended to be a strong playoff contender this year. While Texas is on its third coach in eight years and hasn’t won a Big 12 title since 2009 under Mack Brown, the Longhorns are still a coveted brand.

The move would face numerous obstacles including the Big 12′s grant of media rights, Texas’ long-term agreement with ESPN for the Longhorn Network, state politics and what will almost certainly be a major pushback from Texas A&M about Texas coming on board.

The Chronicle indicated that an announcement could come in a couple of weeks, a very quick timetable.

Orangebloods.com reported Wednesday night that Texas and Oklahoma planned to notify the Big 12 next week that they won’t extend the grant of rights past 2025, the first major step toward an exit.

What was curious was the lack of an outright denial.

Cornered by a small group of reporters at SEC media days, Commissioner Greg Sankey said: “I don’t have any comment on that speculation.”

He later added to a different group: “I’m going to focus on the 2021 season, gentlemen.”

In a statement, Texas didn’t knock down the rumor: “Speculation swirls around collegiate athletics. We will not address rumors or speculation.”

An Oklahoma statement from a university spokesman said “the college athletics landscape is shifting constantly. We don’t address every anonymous rumor.”

Missing from the quotes and statements: the word “false.”

Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

Texas A&M athletic director Ross Bjork was conducting a one-on-one interview Wednesday afternoon when his cell rang with a call from school President M. Katherine Banks about the impending story.

“I will tell you there’s a reason why Texas A&M left for the SEC because of how things were operating and we are going to be diligent in our approach to protect Texas A&M,” Bjork said, still processing the news a short time later. “I know how we feel about our position and who belongs in the SEC.”

Bjork said he had “no inkling” this could be in the works. He questioned if adding Texas and Oklahoma now was the best move for the SEC.

“College athletics is changing. Clearly, it’s changing,” Bjork said. “To me, a lot of that sort of chum in the water is the change in college athletics where people can speculate and do certain things…

“It’s changing. So what does that look like? We don’t know.”

In case the message wasn’t already crystal clear, Bjork repeated A&M’s stance.

“We want to be the only SEC program in the state of Texas,” Bjork said. “There’s a reason why Texas A&M left the Big 12 — to be standalone, to have our own identity and that’s our own identity.”

During one of his media sessions at SEC media days, A&M football coach Jimbo Fisher was asked about Texas and OU reaching out the SEC.

“I bet they would,” Fisher said, laughing. “I’m just worried about A&M.”

A&M wasn’t the only school making its displeasure known. So did Oklahoma’s Bedlam Rival, Oklahoma State. The two have played 115 times in football.

“We have heard unconfirmed reports that OU and UT approached Southeastern Conference officials about joining the SEC,” Oklahoma State said in statement.

“We are gathering information and will monitor closely. If true, we would be gravely disappointed. While we place a premium on history, loyalty and trust, be assured, we will aggressively defend and advance what is best for Oklahoma State and our strong athletic program, which continues to excel in the Big 12 and nationally.”

A potential move of Texas and OU faces some major hurdles.

The Big 12′s current television contracts with ESPN and Fox don’t expire until 2025 and schools are bound to the conference by a grant of first- and second-tier media rights. Texas and Oklahoma would lose their Big 12 revenue — expected to be more than $40 million next year — should they exit early.

Of course, the Big 12 had talked to its TV partners about a possible extension with four years left on the present deal. ESPN and Fox declined, according to a report in the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.

Texas and Oklahoma would have to find a way to unwind their third-tier rights deals, Texas with the ESPN and the Longhorn Network and Oklahoma with Bally Sports Oklahoma. Texas’ deal for the LHN averages $15 million but is backloaded.

One problem: ESPN isn’t the cash machine it once was. And the network faces a potential big expenditure if the College Football Playoff rights expand early.

One industry source suggested Texas and Oklahoma might have been wiser to wait until playoff expansion was confirmed and the TV deal done to explore their options, describing the timing as “awkward.”

Find more Oklahoma coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.

Find more Texas coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.